The Vlogger in the slum
by Dontcrylullaby
Summary: A daily video-blogger is found dead in a sketchy part of town, and his devastated loyal viewers believe they know the answers. Booth and Brennan must discover what happened to the man, and why, by watching the last three years of the man's life, and talking to the people that know him best, his viewers. - {ABANDONED} - feel free to takeover story.
1. Chapter 1

"Bones! Let's go!" Booth yelled impatiently from the bottom floor of their home.

"Booth! Booth! Come here, quick Booth!" Brennan yelled excitedly from the upstairs level.

"What Bones? What's wrong!?" He yelled as he ran up the stairs, as he entered the room their daughter, Christine, was walking wobbly from a chair to her mother.

"Look Booth! She's walking! She is well advanced for her age, she is not expected to walk for another two months!"

"Yeah, yeah, she is very advanced! Christine, walk to daddy! Come to daddy!"

"Wait Booth, stall her while I get the video camera!" Brennan said as she ran out the room.

"Stall her? How am I supposed to stall her? Bones? Bones?" Booth replied. "Okay Christine, keep walking to daddy, don't fall down, keeeeeep comin!" Booth said desperately as he backed away whenever Christine got too close.

"Booth! I found it! Is she still walking!?" Brennan yelled from another room, out of breath.

"Yeah" Booth yelled back. Brennan made it to the door, the camera on and pointed at their child.

"No, no, no, no, no, Christine!" Brennan said desperately as Christine started to loose her balance in what seemed like slow motion, and landed on her behind, laughing.

"Damn it!" Booth sighed "You should've just used the camera on your phone."

"My phone has a video camera? I thought it was just a regular camera." Brennan asked inquisitively.

"Of course it does, Bones. If it was made in the last century it has a video camera."

"I, I don't think that is correct Booth. Is that just an assumption?"

"Yes, of course it is Bones, you know what? We're late, we gotta go" Booth said with an addition of frustration, "and we have to get you to daycare" he said to Christine.

* * *

"What've we got, Bones?" Booth chimed, notepad and pen in hand.

"A caucasian male, approximately 25, holding what appears to be a video camera in his right hand with apparent injuries to the...well, everywhere." Brennan said as she bent over the body.

"Okay, so white male, mid twenties, holding a camera." Booth said aloud as he took down notes on his trusty notepad. "Why would he be in a neighborhood like this? This is gang territory."

"Actually Booth, these injuries could be consistent with injuries I have seen on victims of violent gangs" Cam said, now bent over next to Brennan who was still assessing the body.

"Alright, so you think we're looking at a gang related thing? This guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Booth asked, taking in his surroundings.

"It's too early to tell Booth, you know that." Brennan said to Booth "Get him back to the lab, and be careful!" Brennan ordered at no one in particular.

"Back to the lab we go, you ready Bones?" Booth asked Brennan.

"Yep, let's go" Brennan replied.


	2. Chapter 2

"How are you going with the face reconstruction, Ange?" Brennan asked.

"Just finished." Angela replied, "so what's new with you, sweetie?"

"Christine took her first steps this morning, she is very advanced." Brennan gloated

"What!? That's so exciting!" Angela responded excitedly.

"Yes, although we didn't get it on camera" Brennan replied.

"Well honey, maybe that's a good thing. When Michael was learning to walk, Hodgins installed security cameras all over the house so we would get it on camera. For 3 weeks I heard about every conspiracy theory that involved people being watched in their own homes through security cameras. I pretty much forced Michael to start walking just so Hodgins would shut up." Angela half-laughed. "Oh, we've got a match!" Angela said as Booth walked in.

"Jayden Walker, 26" Booth read off the screen " reported missing 2 weeks ago by his...two hundred people reported him missing!? Who was this guy?" Booth exclaimed

"Well it says here that the two hundred missing person reports were made by his _viewers" _Angela said, also reading off the screen.

"_Viewers? _What are viewers? Like, stalkers?" Booth asked, confused.

"Oh, here we go." Angela said, tapping on her remote, "He is what's called a _Vlogger" _

"A vla-what-now?" Booth asked, still confused.

"A video-blogger." Angela clarified, "They record their life and then upload it to the internet and people watch it. And Jayden here, seems pretty popular. His channel has half a billion views and one and a half million subscribers. He has over one thousand videos uploaded on here." Angela explained.

"Well that's just creepy. And sad." Booth said.

"No Booth. It is actually very interesting." Brennan exclaimed. "In the same way that society idolizes and observes celebrities, these people are observing everyday people. It is the same as magazines and those documentaries you hate, what are they called?"

"Reality TV, honey" Angela replies

"Yes, yes, reality TV shows, only they have the forum to interact via comments and video replies, it appears to be it's own sub-culture! Oh, this is very interesting!"

"Okay there, Bones, calm down, don't get too excited." Booth said

"I just love it when cases involve different societal cultures and ways, don't you, Booth?" Brennan replied with excitement.

"Oh yes, I love it. It just makes my day, okay Bones, now can we figure out what happened to this God of the Youtube sub-culture?"

"Yes. That is the objective." Brennan replied, still overcome with excitement.

* * *

"Why do you always get to drive, Booth?" Brennan complained from the passenger seat.

"Bones, we've been through this. My car, I drive." Booth replied

"Well then why do we never take my car, that's hardly fair?" Brennan responded, still complaining.

"Because your car isn't equipped as an FBI vehicle Bones, and I don't like how small it is." Booth said, getting frustrated.

"I think that viewers would find this conversation entertaining, don't you Booth?" Brennan said laughing.

"What? Why..where did that come from?" Booth responded, still frustrated but now also confused.

"I find that my life would come across as quite entertaining" Brennan said, " and I am sure my fans would enjoy seeing my day to day routine, although I would rather a reality documentary over a Youtube channel."

"Firstly, Bones, it is reality TV, and secondly, you're not going to do either." Booth replied.

"Why Booth?" Brennan said, "People love me and I am pleasurable to look at, my job is exciting, you can be very entertaining and Christine would add the cute factor, don't you think?"

"Well yes, I love you and you are very beautiful, and Christine is adorable, but you don't need to share that with the whole world, Bones. It's ours." Booth replied.

"I am going to construct a pros and cons list when we get home." Brennan said.

"Ugh, okay Bones, look, we're here now so lets just talk about it later, okay?"

"I just said that I would make the list at home Booth." Brennan said.

"Yeah, okay Bones, let's just go in." Booth said, exhausted after their conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

"So..." Booth said aloud, swapping confused glances between Brennan and the lady sitting in front of him who was crying hysterically, "did you know Jayden personally?" he attempted to ask the lady.

"I know, knew, everything about Jay" the lady managed to reply in between gasps and sobs.

"It says here you were the first person who reported him missing, Ms Greene." Booth continued.

"I did. I was so worried about him when he didn't upload a vlog that day. He even uploaded a vlog the day he was in hospital after getting hit by a car, he ALWAYS uploads. Every day. I knew something terrible happened. I just knew." The lady said, breaking down in tears again.

"You were a viewer of Mr Walker?" Brennan asked cautiously, being careful not to make the lady cry even harder, "on his Internet documentary?" Brennan continued.

"Yes. I have been since day one. I'm his biggest fan. I created the Jayfans. I met him once. That was the best day of my life." The lady was now crying harder than before, Brennan looked at Booth, confused.

"Jayfans?" Brennan asked, still confused.

"It is what he would call us fans. It's like Jayden, but jayfans." She explained through sobs.

"Do you have anyone we could call, Ms Greene?" Booth asked the sobbing lady.

"No. No. I don't have anyone." The lady was more hysterical than Booth and Brennan had thought imaginable.

"Ms Greene, would you mind coming with us and talking to our profiler, Dr Sweets, I'm sure it would help us find who did this to Jayd...Jay." Booth said with caution.

"Yes, anything. Anything." Ms Greene replied.

* * *

"You said you found something, Ange?" Brennan said as she entered Angela's office.

"Yeah, so first I watched and analyzed the last six months of videos, but nothing strange came up, just normal day to day stuff."

"Okay." Brennan replied.

"So I went back another six months, and the way he acts is completely different. When you compare video from January 2012 to November 2012, his demeanor is like a whole other person. So I'm guessing something happened in his life that he didn't share with his viewers. And I would say around June. I gave the footage to Sweets, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet, he said something about a crazy lady Booth made him interview."

"Yes, Ms Grenne. Good work, Angela" Brennan said, taking in the information.

"But that's not all." Angela replied with a smile. "August 21st, he is vlogging in front of a building which looked familiar, so I looked back over the crime scene photos you sent me, and as you can see, he is standing on the same street that he was killed."

"Booth said that's a bad part of town, what was he doing there?" Brennan asked curiously.

"He never says what he is doing there, but I can tell you what happened there on August 21st." Angela said, "I searched the database for anything unusual in the area on August 21st, and it came up with this." Angela said, bringing a police report and a news article up on the screen.

"Gang leader murdered in broad daylight" Brennan read the title of the article.

"According to the police report, no one was charged, but they suspected the other major gang in the area had something to do with it. He was killed in the same street that Jaden was vlogging in and murdered in." Angela explained.

"So you think that Mr Walker killed the gang leader?" Brennan asked, a little confused.

"No, but I think he might've seen something." Angela clarified. "Judging from the clock in the background of his footage, and the time on the police report, Jayden was definitely there at the time of the murder."

"I'm going to go tell Booth." Brennan said. "Excellent job Ange." Brennan said as she walked out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"Booth." Sweets said impatiently as he walked into his co-workers office "you wanted to see me?"

"Ahh Sweets! How is our friend Ms Greene?" Booth asked teasingly.

"Scary, Booth. She is scary." Sweets replied, not in a laughing tone. "I still don't see why it was necessary that she come to me, she hasn't given us any leads on the case."

"Because, you see Sweets, she was hysterical and all psychologically messed up when we visited her, and she informed Bones and I that she knew everything about our victim here so I thought, you know who loves crazy, mentally unstable internet ladies? Sweets!" Booth replied, still with a teasing tone.

"Great. Thanks Booth." Sweets said sarcastically.

"Have you looked through the video Angela sent you?" Booth asked, back to business.

"Oh, yes. Angela was right. It is difficult to pin-point exactly when and what happened, but Ms Greene has been helping me with some helpful suggestions. Have you thought of an alien abduction? That is Ms Greene's top guess at the moment." Sweets continued, obviously still traumatized from his difficult day.

"Did someone say aliens?" Hodgins asked from the doorway of Booth's office, Michael in his right arm, pushing Christine in her pram.

"Christine! What are you doing here, Hodgins?" Booth asked.

"It's 8pm." Hodgins replied. "The daycare shuts at 7.30. Angie and Dr B are still going through evidence and though they are very smart babies, they are still not allowed in the lab." Hodgins joked. "Dr B asked me to drop Christine to you, she said that she will call you in a bit." Hodgins said wheeling the pram over toward Booth. "I've gotta get this one home." Hodgins said pointing at the sleeping baby in his arm.

"Yeah, thanks Hodgins." Booth replied as Hodgins walked out the door. He looked over at his daughter, asleep in her pram. "She started walking today." He said proudly.

"Really?" Sweets asked. "Generally babies her age don't start walking for another few months."

"She is brilliant." Booth replied simply.

* * *

"I just don't understand, Booth." Brennan complained to her partner and boyfriend who was sitting across the dinner table from her. "This case really shouldn't be this difficult to solve. Compared to other cases that you and I have successfully solved, this case appears to be fairly simple." Brennan attempted to explain her confusion.

"Well, nobody knew the guy, Bones. Not really." Booth replied, finishing up his pasta. "He broadcasts his life to the world, but he didn't have any friends or family. He can edit it to show what he wants to be shown, he controls how the world sees him. It's not like that in real life, Bones, you can't edit life." Booth explained.

"So what you're saying, Booth, is that his documentary gives the false illusion that he has people who care for him, whereas in reality he is alone." Brennan replied, proud of herself for understanding.

"I thought you were the one who says just because someone is alone, doesn't mean they are lonely?" Booth asked, teasing Brennan.

"I'm not so sure how accurate that statement is, Booth. When I told you that, I too didn't have any people. I thought that I wasn't lonely, because I didn't realize that there was any other way. Although now I have you, and Christine and I can't imagine not having anyone...no one real, in my life." Bones said, taking Booth's teasing seriously.

"Well good thing you don't have to be alone ever again." Booth said, placing his hand over Brennan's across the table.

"Yes." Brennan agreed. "That is a very good thing."


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, so we have cause of death." Booth pondered aloud, standing next to Brennan and the bones on the table.

"Yes." Brennan agreed, staring at the bones. "He was tortured in an unknown location, dumped on the street where he was located and bled out from the injuries produced by his torture. It would have been quite painful" Brennan explained.

"Alright.." Booth was thinking out loud, "So he knew something... But what would a kid like this possibly know?" Booth was trying to make sense of the case.

"Booth, Dr B." Hodgins greeted his friends and co-workers as he entered the room.

"Tell me you've got something good, Hodgins." Booth said, getting desperate.

"Oh, that I do, my friend, that I do." Hodgins said excitedly, "I identified the particulates from the victim's clothes, and I found traces of iron as well as hemp and cotton fibers."

"Something made of Iron, and rope. Consistent with his torture injuries" Brennan clarified for Booth.

"But not only that, I found steel, rubber hydrocarbon, carbon black, oil, sulphur, zinc oxide as well as textiles in the form of cotton." Hodgins finished.

"Tyres." Brennan said.

"Exactly. But not just any tyres, old tyres. The steel and other metals show signs of oxidization, which means that.."

"They're corroding." Brennan cut him off.

"Yes. I looked back at the other evidence and it all practically screams warehouse, so Angie and I searched for abandoned car shops or tyre factories around where your victim was found."

"What are you saying, Hodgins?" Booth asked, getting frustrated.

"I'm saying we found where your guy was tortured." Hodgins said, proudly.

"Alright Bones, let's go." Booth said, itching to get out of the lab.

"King of the lab!" Hodgins said to himself as Booth and Brennan hurried out the door.

* * *

"Well this is definitely where he was tortured." Brennan said, examining the now crime scene, "and not just him." She said looking at the amount of blood whoever tortured him hadn't bothered to clean up. Brennan took out her UV light and scanned the floor, "Woah, Booth. There's a lot of blood here." She said to her partner.

"Yeah." Booth replied. "I've seen this before. It's a gang's torture chamber." Crinkling his nose, disgusted by the view. "Ohh! What do we have here?" Booth said, examining a crest graffitied on the wall, looks like we've found our gang. What does that say, Bones?" Booth asked, pointing to words written in the crest in another language.

"Sanguis Canis." Brennan read aloud, "It's latin for Blood Dog." She translated.

"I've heard of them. One of the most violent street gangs in the city." Booth replied. "What's the bet they killed the gang leader here as well, Bones?" Booth asked his partner.

"No, Booth. The gang leader was shot on the street." Brennan replied. "What are you thinking?" She asked her partner, attempting to follow his train of thought.

"I'm thinking we should get out of here before the gang comes back, and that we should come back with backup and a warrant for those weapons over there." Booth responded.

"You don't really think they kept the gun they used to shoot the gang leader, do you Booth?" Brennan asked, still trying to catch up.

"Of course they did. It's their trophy." Booth replied, "Let's go, Bones, I don't want you getting hurt." He said, ushering his girlfriend to the car.

* * *

"Aright Bones, this is what I'm thinking." Booth said as they entered the safe part of town, him at the wheel, Brennan in the passenger seat. "August 22nd, Jayden is there, for whatever reason, vlogging in the street, he hears a gun shot behind him, he runs. The Blood Dogs see him, running away, video camera in hand and assume he videoed the murder." Booth explains.

"Did he?" Brennan asks, "Video the murder?"

"I don't know Bones, the memory card wasn't in his camera. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't." Booth answered. "Anyway..." Booth continues, "He comes back, again, we don't know why, they recognize him with his camera, take him to the torture chamber, torture him to get him to talk, if he knew anything or he didn't he wasn't getting out of there alive." Booth finished.

"So..." Brennan began, "He either videoed a murder and foolishly returned to where the murder took place, or was in the wrong place at the wrong time...twice." Brennan summed up her understanding of Booth's rambling.

"Pretty much." Booth replied. "Now we just have to figure out what he was doing there, and who exactly killed him." Booth said, satisfied with their days work.


End file.
